Snowed-In

This was the scene in our back yard this morning... a great day to sleep in, sort through boxes, do a little reading...
Tim's soccer tournament got snowed-out!

Friday, January 29th

The seniors expressed appreciation to their Government/Economics teacher Gordon Meiners (in the brown jacket) for his 30 years of faithful service to ACA at this morning's convocation...

Thursday, January 28th

Just a few of the latest pictures Kara posted on her FB... she's back in Perth now, ready to earn a little money for her next adventure...

Not likely she'll soon forget her Christmas vacation on the eastern coast of Australia!

Wednesday, January 27th

Tim has been training hard these days: Thursday morning preseason workouts for baseball, weight training MTuTh after school, indoor soccer Friday nights, training for club soccer MWF and tournaments some weekends. Here he is in action (red) at the last of the latter...
Next one is this weekend in Fayetteville!

Tuesday, January 26th

Last night's snowfall gave us a two-hour delay this morning... never much of a break for administrators, because we still have to get in early to adjust all the schedules and greet those who don't get the message...
Tim and I dashed home right after school to clean house and get it ready for the realtor's pictures...
The For Sale sign went up this morning!

Monday, January 25th

Lana and I joined this couple's CG ("Connect Group"/the Biltmore Baptist version of Sunday School) about four years ago... Steve does a terrific job preparing his lessons each week, and teams up with his wife Freda to faithfully shepherd/disciple the crazy mix of people God has brought their way. January 25th is his birthday...
God's richest blessings to you, brother!

Sunday, January 24th

Pastor Bruce is still in his series entitled "Restart"; today's focal passage was I Peter 3:1-6 and the principles that apply to wives in their relationships with their husbands... made me appreciate the women I've been close to in my lifetime!


Next week is our turn (v. 7):

"The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground."

Saturday, January 23rd

It's Nancy Rivas' wedding day! Her dad is on the security team at NCA, and I watched his daughter grow up, go through college and become the computer teacher at the Nejapa campus of NCA! Whenever I take teams to Nicaragua, I make sure one of our stops is to the house church that meets on their property... Would love to have been there today!

Friday, January 22nd

Quite an adventure that girl is living... check out these pictures Kara just posted on her FB!

Thursday, January 21st

The latest from the 23-year-old world traveller:

Hey Dad-I actually just got back from sailing (AND DIVING!!!) the whitsundays in the GREAT BARRIER REEF (one of the 7 wonders of the world!). That was an experience of a LIFETIME! I can't get over how great that trip was from beginning to end. It was very much like the pelican eyes but you sleep on the boat and there are dive instructors on the boat and so you can go in on little sampler dives. Oh. my. goodness. so great!!!

Well, I'm going back to perth. Gotta get back to making money quick!! :)Love you.
P.S. dad! I wish i wasn't on an internet cafe computer and could skype you!!!

yeah, it was AH MAZING. And they give you a cd rom of all the digital pictures they took on the trip, and there was an underwater camera with us!!! There's footage of me high fiving and doing dumb stuff that seems super lame out of the water and just as lame underwater ;)

(Haven't gotten those pics yet)

Wednesday, January 20th

Have to do a little braggin' on Grace... Back in September Christian students and teachers around the country gathered around their schools' flagpoles for the annual "See You at the Pole" prayer initiative.
The response was so positive on her public school campus that Grace asked the kids if they wouldn't like to make it a weekly event... here's this morning's turn-out, and an article published in the local paper... Good work on a tough mission field, Grace!

Hats Off…

…to Grace Baxley, teacher at James Weldon Johnson Middle School, who facilitates student-led devotions every week “at the pole,” or in her classroom when weather is unpredictable.
It all began with See You at the Pole, a student-led, student-initiated movement of prayer that revolves around students praying together on the fourth Wednesday of September, usually before school and usually at the school’s flagpole. It involves students in elementary schools, middle/junior high schools, high schools, and colleges/ universities all over the world. Adults often pray in support of the students on campus by gathering nearby, at their places of work or worship, or at city halls.
When organizers in Texas in 1990 first challenged young people to meet on a common day to launch their school year in prayer, one of the concerns was how to help those who wanted to pray together find each other. It was noted that virtually every school has a flagpole, and it provided an easy-to-identify place to gather.
Baxley says at the beginning of the current school year about 45 students and eight staff members met at the school flagpole. Since there was such a good turnout, she suggested they meet every week, so they did. About 12 students meet regularly (as well as some teachers who have time), have a short devotional, then form a circle and join hands to pray. The meeting is student-led and voluntary; anyone can come and observe or participate.
The maturity and leadership provided by these 12- to 14-year-olds is amazing to Baxley. “They share concerns and support each other, talk about how to be a positive influence on those around them and encourage each other if they are having a rough day. They talk about showing understanding toward each other and their teachers and showing appreciation for the leadership of the school. I believe, while intangible, this all has a positive effect, and it does enrich the atmosphere of the school when students see teachers participate, and for teachers to see the kids involved.”
So our hats are off to this teacher, her peers, her students – and to the school administration – for a positive example in the community.

Tuesday, January 19th

Got a call from my old pastor/principal/brother-in-Christ Ray Smith this evening; we grew close in our years south-of-the-border... Kay Lyn was closer than a sister to Lana...
Ray now pastors the First Baptist Church in Battlefield, Missouri... he is a gifted expositor of the Word! God regularly used His faithful servant to clearly speak words of truth to me and the rest of our family at the International Christian Fellowship (Managua)...

MLK, Jr. Day

Took this picture (in Grace's dining room) after church on Sunday... I'm back in Asheville now getting ready for our four day work week.
Miss her already!
Tim stayed here so that he could play in the indoor soccer tournament... his team came in 2nd, after rallying to win its semi-final 9-8!

Sunday, January 17th

Grace and I have had a great time here in Jax... these three-day-weekends will be precious between here and the end of the school year. As much as I love my home church in Asheville (Biltmore Baptist), it has been fun to frequent Grace's (Chets Creek)... especially when her son Will (bass guitar) is on the worship team!

Saturday, January 16th

Miss Ruby never hesitated to let her neighbors know how she felt... here's a picture of the wall on the second story of her house.

It reads "God's complaints: you call Me 'Lord' and don't obey Me - You call Me 'The Way' and don't follow Me."

Friday, January 15th

Blog faithful may remember the video I posted June 13th of our visit to the home of this precious lady (still available by going back to that date's post in the log)...

I just found out Miss Ruby joined Lana in Heaven last Tuesday night. I've just posted a longer video of the same song ("This World is not My Home") on my Facebook... check it out!

Thursday, January 14th

I have made the upper school my focus this year, but tomorrow I'll be sharing a little with the 6-8th graders in our middle school chapel... I've given my talk the title "Seasons of Life"; these are a few of the 130 who will be in attendance (the girls basketball team)
When the school day's over I'll be making the seven-hour drive to Jacksonville to see you-know-who!

Wednesday, January 13th

One more for yesterday's collection... Kara actually made this the profile picture on her Facebook... I guess those koala bears are as cuddly as they look!

Tuesday, January 12th

Kara just posted a few more pictures of her adventures... from the sign on the second one, I gather these are from her drive up the southeastern coast on the 243km (150 mile) scenic highway known as the Great Ocean Road between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool...

Thanks for sharing, Kara!

Monday, January 11th

Some of you will remember Gerson "Harry" Miranda (Tim's best friend from Nicaragua) who spoke at Lana's celebration of life service in Asheville... well, God has provided for him to attend Calvin College (Grand Rapids); below the picture is part of a letter he sent to those through whom He provided (in the photo Harry is framed by Tim and his older brother, Denis, a freshman @Harding University)

"...Since I am in a place of great freedom, I realize that I must use that freedom in the best possible way. ...I used to depend on a routine to remind me to have time with God. In college, I quickly realized that there was no routine and I needed to make time. I think this has been my greatest struggle because there are so many other things that can take up my entire day.

When I found myself focusing on the many tasks that I needed to complete, my time with God seemed like a stressful obligation rather than a time of great comfort and joy where I can meet my Father and be changed by Him. That is my greatest desire: to be changed and molded into the man of God He wants me to be.

I see my experience at Calvin as a time to find God and have a face to face encounter with Him like never before..."

Sunday, January 10th

It was such a pretty day, I decided to forego my after-church siesta in favor of a little hike on the mountains-to-sea and realized
"the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed (to cars)!"...
How often does one get to walk down the middle of a beautiful country road without the threat of being run over?

1.75 Years

21 months since Lana left for Heaven...
This picture was taken in 1983; she was working as a flight attendant for American Airlines and loved the job (while she was single)... the schedule became burdensome once we got married, so she went back and finished her Masters in Interior Design...

Snow Day #2

Tim (in red cap) and five of his classmates spent the day on this frozen pond in Montreat... plans are to go out there again Sunday afternoon a little better equipped. Today's "hockey sticks" were tree branches, the puck a smooth stone... I think they did really well; still have all their teeth!

Thursday, January 7th

Tim and some of his classmates have been recruited by the varsity basketball coach to help train her girls not to be intimidated by larger opponents. This video shows Tim grabbing a rebound in this afternoon's practice...

Wednesday, January 6th

I let the high school students know today of my intention to step-down as their principal (at the conclusion of the current school year) to move closer to this precious friend of mine...

Tuesday, January 5th

Today was a first for me... a "sprinkler day"; classes were cancelled because the pipes to our fire sprinkler froze and burst, disabling the system and rendering one of our two classroom buildings uninhabitable.
We've been cleared to move back in to all but the two Art rooms tomorrow, but forecasts call for snow Thursday and Friday... a one-day school week would be another first for me!

Monday, January 4th

The parents of one of our Korean exchange students sent me this mask along with a thank you letter for working with their daughter. There apparently are ten masks in the Hahae Tal series dating back to the 11th century...
This one is called "Yangban Tal" (the mask of the nobleman)
How cool is that?

Sunday, January 3rd

Kara just posted a few pictures from her vacation in Sydney, where she took in the new year with a friend from Georgia Tech and these "random American girls" they met while there... she has since moved on to Melbourne, Australia where the adventures continue...

Saturday, January 2nd

The annual faculty-alumni basketball game was tonight... I played a little, if you can call it that.

I think all the basketball genes went elsewhere, like to my nephew Ryan Montague; he's shown here (back row center) after wrapping up the second-consecutive championship of the South Orange County (CA) Junior Basketball League last year... this year he's on the all-star team and being recruited (as a homeschooling 8th grader) to play for a local high school team (remind you of anyone I wrote about in yesterday's entry?)

New Year's Day

My Tim and I are back in Asheville watching this Tim play his last game in a Gator uniform... at halftime, he has his team up 30-3 over the undefeated third-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl. As he has done throughout his Florida career, he is wearing Scripture on his eye-black... today it's one of my personal faves (Ephesians 2:8-10)

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."